I have been following REM on and off since their The Ones I Love days, but I never really got into them until the album Out Of Time. Losing My Religion is still my favorite track from them. One of Michael Stipes and gang's greatest strengths is creating a lethal hook in their tunes that just won't let go.

Reveal, their 2001 effort, is significantly more sedate than their heyday music. I confess I do miss the "Fireee!" cry of The Ones I Love, but Reveal has some beautiful gems. The heartrendingly beautiful I've Been High is one.

Tracks like All The Way To Reno (You're Gonna Be A Star), Imitation Of Life, I'll Take The Rain, and The Lifting are typical REM folksy rock tunes - pleasant to the ears, and they stick to the mind like superglue.

Taken as a whole, the album can soon start to sound like one long song - there is a sameyness to all the tracks. But while REM may be more, er, lackadaisal in their current music direction, Reveal is still music to the ears.